A new rumor claims that Disney’s upcoming Power Rangers reboot will feature a female Red Ranger.
The Legacy of Nerd claims that actress Peyton Elizabeth Lee is in discussions to join the reboot and that while her “exact role remains a mystery … we have heard through several sources she will play the Red Power Ranger and will be one of the leads of the show.”
It was reported last March that Disney was rebooting the Power Rangers with a brand new series. TheWrap’s Umberto Gonzalez shared at the time that showrunners Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz were in negotiations to “write, showrun, and produce a live-action Power Rangers series for Disney+ and 20th Century TV.”
The report indicated this new series would not only reboot the series but “will reinvent he franchise for a whole new generation of fans while delighting those who already know and love the world of Power Rangers.”
There have been three female Red Rangers in the past. The first was Charlie from the 2005 series Power Rangers S.P.D. She was the leader of the A-Squad Rangers. However, she and her team were captured by Emperor Gruumm brainwashed and turned into villains. The character only appeared in around six episodes mainly as a cameo albeit she did play a more significant role in the series’ two-part finale.
Lauren Shiba was the second female Red Ranger. In the 2012 series Power Rangers Super Samurai she became the Red Samurai Ranger. Similar to Charlie she only appeared in around half a dozen episodes. However, unlike Charlie she was a heroic ranger.
Finally, the third Red Ranger was Amelia Jones who appeared in the 2023 series Power Rangers Cosmic Fury. She was originally the Pink Dino Fury Ranger, but after the team’s leader went missing she stepped up and became the Red Cosmic Fury Ranger. She was the Red Ranger for all 10 episodes of Comic Fury, but was the Pink Ranger for 44 episodes across the Dino Fury series.
If this rumor turns out to be true, it will be the first time the Red Ranger is a female from the beginning. And it’s another franchise that Disney will have replaced a male with a female.
Then make barbie or skipper a dude next time. Turnabout is fair play.
Power Rangers has been dead since Megaforce, just one bad series after the next one.